Don't Hold Your Breath
by Haunted Veela
Summary: Rosa Gray has finally escaped from Draco and his abusive ways. After sitting in a coffee shop she used to frequent, she realised the extent of the damage he has done. Rosa must build back her old life with her friends from Gryffindor while recovering from her ordeal; this includes facing with her ex boyfriend who left her for another girl. Will she manage or be lured back to Draco?
1. Escaping the House

**Hello readers. This story is based on an idea I had when I was eleven years old (seven years ago now… I'm getting old :P) and used to listen to my _Pop Princesses_ album obsessively (haha). The song this is based on is _Don't Hold Your Breath_ by Nicole Scherzinger and it features my first OC, Rosa Gray. I never did anything with the character as she was a Mary Sue and too unbearable to feature on this site. Apologies for any Sue-ness, I will try to keep it to a minimum but I didn't want to change her character too much. Anyway, enough waffling, hope you enjoy!**

With shaking hands, Rosa picked up a huge pile of her clothes and dumped them in her Hogwarts trunk. She hadn't used it in a good while, but it was coming in handy now. Rosa had limited time in which she could pack and escape the house for good.

She turned to pick up more clothes from off the floor. As she turned, the floorboards creaked loudly, and instinctively she froze. Then, remembering that she was alone in the house, she relaxed slightly before hurrying her movements. Whatever happened, Rosa had to get out of the house before Draco came home. As to where she was going to go, she had no idea - the Weasley's perhaps? - but that was the least of her worries.

Now the clothes were all in the trunk, all Rosa had to retrieve now were her toiletries, skin care products and makeup. She dashed to the bathroom and gathered a handful of items, then ran into the bedroom and dumped them into the trunk. After repeating this several times, Rosa finally closed the lid, then collapsed against the wall, closing her eyes and resting a shaking hand against her sweaty forehead. This had all just been one long, horrendous nightmare, but she was finally ending it today.

After composing herself, Rosa took out her wand and Shrank the trunk to make it easier to carry. The Undetectable Extension Charm made it almost weightless, and now it was small enough to fit into her favourite red handbag. The moment had come - it was time to escape Draco's house.

Clutching the pre-written note she had prepared for Draco, Rosa stepped hesitantly downstairs. She scanned the kitchen, deciding on the best place to leave it. Finally, she decided on placing it on the kitchen table. Then Rosa turned and walked out into the hall before Disapparating. The only thing left of her was the handwritten note on the kitchen table.

 _Draco,_

 _You can't touch me now, there are no feelings left for you. You mustn't come looking for me; if you think I'm ever coming back, don't hold your breath._

 _Rosa_

~~~(O.O)~~~

Rosa appeared outside a coffee shop in London, one she remembered from her childhood visits to the city. Hoping no-one had noticed her sudden arrival in the middle of the street, she entered tentatively. It had been a long time since she'd had this amount of freedom.

Upon approaching the counter, she realised she had no money, and hesitated again. However, the woman behind the counter smiled at her.

"Are you lost, my dear?"

"No, no," Rosa stuttered, looking at the menu wistfully as her stomach gave a low rumble. "Just realised that I had no money. I'm sorry." She turned to go, but the woman spoke again.

"Don't worry, dear. I'll get you some water and a cinnamon roll on the house."

"Are you sure?" Rosa asked, immensely touched by the woman's kindness.

"Of course. You look like you could do with some food in you."

This was very true; Rosa had lost a lot of weight over the months. She had always mourned the loss of her figure, and now looked forward to getting it back again.

She took the food with a small smile and a grateful thank you, then took the tray over to the corner, beside the window. First of all, she drank thirstily from the glass, then ate the roll hungrily. The food was amazing, just like how she remembered it. After that, Rosa sat with her chin resting on her hands, staring out the window without really seeing. She was thinking of an old Muggle song she used to listen to all the time. Rosa couldn't remember the name of it, or the artist, but the lyrics were so very true to her situation...

 _"I was under your spell for such a long time..."_

Draco was so charming at the beginning. It was hard not to fall for him, with all his smooth talking and romantic gestures. Rosa admittedly was lonely; George Weasley had left her after almost two years for a beautiful blonde in his year called Lavinia. It had been a huge shock for their huge friendship group; as much as Lavinia was smart and attractive, compared to Rosa's looks and intelligence she was nothing. Rosa had accepted the loss of her boyfriend with quiet dignity, though in private she cried a lot.

Then Draco had come along. There had always been some attraction between the two of them, ever since that first day of Hogwarts. Rosa had ignored it for years because she either wasn't ready for a boyfriend or liked George, but it was totally impossible to ignore on that first day of sixth year.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Rosa edged further towards the Hogwarts train with her friends. She was in the middle of a huge crowd and felt slightly claustrophobic. Looking round, she realised that her friends had all been separated and had gone on ahead without her. All of a sudden, she felt a swift tug on her arm. Looking up, Rosa made eye contact with Draco._

 _"Come and sit with me, I'll be in a compartment at the back," Draco whispered to her, staring at her intensely with his grey-blue eyes. Rosa stared back, unable to help herself, as he pushed ahead in the crowd. She bit her lip as she wondered what the others would say._

 _Finally, she reached the entrance to the train. Rosa yanked her heavy luggage up and along the corridor, trying to find her friends. She found them easily enough in their own compartment, laughing and joking together._

 _"Hey guys," Rosa said, forcing a smile on her face. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to sit with Draco just this once-"_

 _"Why?" Ron asked, unnecessarily aggressive._

 _"Because I like him, Ron," Rosa said impatiently. Suddenly, she found that none of them - Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville - wanted to look at her. Only Luna was happy to catch her eye, staring at her steadily without blinking too much._

 _"I'm sorry," Rosa said, not knowing what she was apologising for as she backed out of the compartment, almost crashing into someone. She dragged her trunk along to the back, where the Slytherins were. Biting her lip, she ignored their unfriendly gazes. For all that she was very popular in her own house, she was hated by the Slytherins for many reasons._

 _"What you doing in our territory, Mudblood?" Blaise Zabini asked aggressively, standing up. Rosa took a step back as Draco opened his compartment door._

 _"Zabini. Leave her alone." Draco's tone was commanding as he picked up her trunk for her. "Come on Rosa, let's go into here." He shot his friends a cold glance as Rosa scuttled into his compartment. She waited uncertainly as Draco heaved her luggage onto the metal railing above. He sat down, and looked at her with his beautiful blue eyes. Rosa's heart thumped; she was scarcely able to breathe._

 _~~~(O.O)~~~_

 _Several hours later, the blinds were down on all the windows, including the one on the door. When Draco had first kissed her, Rosa hadn't stopped him. Resisting was useless, for she didn't want to in the slightest. She'd kissed him back helplessly, her heart exploding. Rosa had missed this kind of intimacy that she'd had with George, though Draco was not her back-up option._

 _She was sat on his lap in the corner of the compartment, when he suddenly sat up straighter._

 _"There's something I need to show you," Draco whispered huskily. Rosa made to get up off his lap, but he hung onto her waist._

 _"Don't get up." Rosa obeyed, watching curiously as Draco rolled up his left sleeve slowly. She almost recoiled in horror when she saw the snake tattoo writhing gently on his arm._

 _"Does it scare you?" Draco whispered. It was a strange question, and one that Rosa didn't answer truthfully._

 _"No." Did she truly believe that Draco was good? He was known for being a bully, but he'd always been nice to her… Rosa had always been different, and she knew that._

 _As if he could read her thoughts, he said slowly, "Don't worry, my darling. I won't treat you like the rest of them. You're special to me."_

 _Alarm bells should have gone off then, but she smiled indulgently and let him bury his face into her long luscious black hair._

 ** _End of flashback_**

If only she'd sat with her friends that day… Rosa was left to sadly ponder what could have been had she ignored his request. She'd certainly be a lot happier, and less isolated. With a rueful smile to herself, she had to admit that she'd been caught in his charm for a long time. And Draco had been so lovely at the start, until his violent temper and unpleasant ways came to light…

 _"Couldn't break the chains…"_

 ** _Flashback_**

 _It quickly became apparent that the rumours at Hogwarts were true; Draco wasn't just a bully, he was a violent bully._

 _It started off with grabbing her arm if they had a minor disagreement. Rosa was quick to shake him off, chastising him and walking away. Then it was grabbing her arms and forcing her to stop and look at him. Then it was pinning her down on the bed if they had an argument and Rosa was trying to get away from him._

 _"Get off me!" Rosa cried, as Draco held her shoulders down in an attempt to force her to listen to him. "Stop it!" It was useless protesting, or trying to escape, because he would never listen and he was a lot stronger than she was._

 ** _End of flashback_**

Rosa looked up at the time. It was half past five; there were still several more hours before the shop would be closed. She lay her head on the table, plagued by her disturbing thoughts and unpleasant memories. Rosa had nowhere to go or stay, so she thought she might as well make the most of sitting somewhere comfortable.


	2. Memories and An Old Friend

It was hard to tell what was worse: the violence or the awful mind games and verbal abuse she'd receive on a daily basis.

" _You played with my heart, tore me apart with all your lies and games"_

 _ **Flashback**_

" _Guess who I saw today," Draco said without greeting her. Rosa was bewitching all the housework equipment to clean the place as he hadn't bothered to tidy up after himself – again. She smiled in what she hoped was a calm manner._

" _Who?" Rosa asked, to humour him._

" _Pansy," Draco said, not looking at her as he examined the kitchen. "God, it's filthy in here."_

 _Rosa bit back a retort, and was forced to compose her face once more. "Oh yeah? Did she say anything to you?"_

" _Nah," Draco said, finally looking at her. He looked cocky and rather pleased with himself. "But I can tell she still wants me."_

 _Her heart thudded and she had to turn away, biting her lip. Pansy was always her main enemy at school, once Marcus Flint and his terrifying gang left._

" _She wasn't looking too bad herself actually," Draco said, further driving the knife into her heart. "She's got good curves." He threw a pitying glance at Rosa. She didn't have to look at herself to know that she'd lost a lot of weight and consequently her own good figure. As she collapsed in tears, Draco walked out, seemingly oblivious to the damage he'd done. He was always trying to make her jealous these days, it was just one of his unpleasant games._

 _ **End of flashback**_

 _~~~(O.O)~~~_

 _ **Flashback**_

" _I'm uh… off tonight with a few of my friends for a, uh… work meeting," Draco said, avoiding eye contact. He was definitely acting shifty, and Rosa folded her arms._

" _Work meeting?"_

" _Yes, Rosa, a work meeting!" Draco said, losing his temper. "It's not for you to question me! I'll be back before ten!" He slammed the door on his way out._

 _Rosa knew he was lying._

 _~~~(O.O)~~~_

 _She backed against the hallway wall as Draco stumbled in, clearly blind-drunk. It was quarter to one._

" _You said you wouldn't do this anymore!" Rosa said tearfully, edging away as he lunged towards her._

" _Sorry darling," Draco slurred, holding onto the bannister to keep himself upright. "I won't do it again, I promise."_

 _Rosa knew he didn't mean it. And she was right._

 _~~~(O.O)~~~_

" _You said. You_ said _you'd stop going out and drinking like that."_

 _Rosa was addressing Draco from across the kitchen table. She stabbed her food angrily with her fork._

" _No I didn't," Draco said calmly, eating as if nothing had happened the previous evening._

" _You did, you said last night and a few days ago," Rosa insisted._

" _No, Rosa. I didn't," Draco said firmly, shaking his head with a small smile on his face._

" _You did," Rosa said faintly. Was her memory deceiving her? She could have sworn he had promised her that._

" _You're probably just tired. I never said I'd stop drinking. You're just imagining things," Draco said confidently._

 _Rosa was now full of doubt. Perhaps he was right. Maybe she had just imagined it._

 _ **End of flashback**_

 _~~~(O.O)~~~_

 _ **Flashback**_

" _You look like a cheap slut."_

 _Rosa was wearing a beautiful red dress just cut above the knee and not particular low cut at the chest. Anyone else would have told her, truthfully, that she looked beautiful, but not Draco._

" _How?" Rosa asked, her heart pounding at the anticipation of an ugly fight with Draco._

" _It's far too revealing. Pansy would never wear something like that." Draco wrinkled his nose._

 _Rosa sighed. She was always being compared to Pansy these days. It was destroying her self esteem._

" _Wear this one instead," Draco ordered, holding out a plain black dress. Rosa would look lovely in anything, but it wasn't her style and she didn't want to wear it._

 _However, to avoid unpleasantness, Rosa took it and obediently went to get changed. What if he broke up with her and went for Pansy instead? After all, Draco was always saying how well dressed and nice she looked. Rosa needed to look her best at all times. She wanted to please Draco._

 _ **End of flashback**_

The most previous fight had been one of the ugliest.

 _ **Flashback**_

" _I want a job, Draco."_

 _Rosa tried to stand her ground confidently. It wasn't going particularly well._

" _Why?" Draco questioned her harshly._

" _Because I do," Rosa said, faltering slightly. "I always planned to work once I left Hogwarts…" Her voice tailed off at the look on his face._

" _Well_ I _want you to stay at home. Leave the career to me. You're not even smart enough to get the job you want."_

 _Rosa stared at him. She'd outperformed him on all of her OWL and NEWT exams , yet she was the dumb one? He told her this so often that a less intelligent person would start to believe it._

" _I want to work," Rosa repeated more forcefully._

" _Well I'm saying you can't!" Draco seized her arm, pushing her into the wall and twisting her arm painfully behind her back. She cried out in pain._

" _Say you won't go out to work and leave me. Say it!" Draco ordered, twisting her arm further until she was almost white with pain._

" _Ouch- Fine, I won't go!" Rosa screamed, as he let go of her, panting. His usually pale face was flushed, and he clenched his fists before striding away. Rosa collapsed against the wall in tears, holding her sore arm. Would she have to put up with this for the rest of her life?_

 _ **End of flashback**_

Tears welled up in Rosa's bright green eyes. She'd been a fool to move onto Draco after George broke up with her. For a moment, she thought of him: tall, ginger, an endearing lopsided grin… If she'd had it her way, Rosa and George would never have broken up. He was perfect for her, in all the ways that Draco was an awful match.

She needed to be strong now. Rosa had previously been good at this, but Draco had sucked away most of her strength until she was almost totally dependent on him.

" _You took all the strength I had, but I crawled up on my feet again"_

Rosa reminded herself that she had literally crawled up on her feet again many times and had escaped the house – months ago this idea wouldn't have even entered her mind. It seemed like a huge step, and it was, but she had a lot of healing to do yet. It would take time.

"Excuse me." It was the same woman from earlier. "Sorry, love, but we're closing up now. Are you alright?"

Rosa wiped her eyes automatically – Draco hated her showing any negative emotion, even after he had mistreated her, and now this had become a habit. She tried to smile.

"Yes, thank you. I'm just tired." Partly true.

"Do you need me to phone a taxi or anything?" The woman looked slightly concerned. Rosa smiled more convincingly.

"No no, it's okay. My mum's waiting across the street." She got up, picking up the bag she had ran away with. "Thanks so much for the food earlier."

"Not a problem, dear," the woman said, smiling at her. "Take care."

"Thanks," Rosa said quickly, turning away so she couldn't see her tears. She pushed the door open and stepped out into the London street. Naturally it was busy, but everyone else seemed to walk with a purpose; they seemed to know where they were going. Rosa straightened her shoulders and tried to copy them. She turned left, and walked on, passing pubs, shops, hotels…

The only option Rosa had was to return home to her mother, Hayley, but that involved a lot of patching up. She desperately wanted to recreate the same loving relationship they'd had previously, but Rosa hadn't wanted to move back home while doing that.

All around her, people seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was a Friday, so everyone was looking forward to the weekend; the pubs were almost full already and those walking with friends were chatting animatedly. Rosa suddenly felt a rush of sadness for the friendships she had lost since her relationship with Draco. Hermione, Ron, Harry, Fred, George, Bill, Fleur, Ginny, Luna… Now she had to stifle a sob, in the middle of the street. Unable to be around such happy, carefree people, Rosa took a turn into a less busy street, one full of fancy offices.

There was just one figure walking the opposite direction as Rosa walked down the pavement. She almost ignored them, but there was something very familiar about them. The walk, the posture, the bushy hair…

Rosa stopped dead in her tracks.

"Hermione?"

Hermione, who had looked lost in thought, looked up in alarm. Then a look of mingled delight and shock passed across her face. She let out a small shriek.

"Rosa!" They hugged, fiercely. Hermione surveyed her once they let go, looking slightly anxious.

"Where's Draco?"

"I left him," Rosa said, trying to sound strong. Even so, her voice wobbled. "Hermione, you've got to help me. Can I come back with you… wherever you live these days?"

"Sure," Hermione said immediately, "I have a flat with Ron, but it's tiny. Of course you can come back with us, I'll make you dinner and we can talk – I have a feeling that things aren't good."

"Worse than you can ever imagine," Rosa said grimly. It was finally time to admit the terrible truth to her friends.

~~~(O.O)~~~

Hermione had a small but stylish apartment on the outskirts of London. Ron was not home yet; according to Hermione, he had to stay late at his Auror training frequently.

"Do you have a job now, Rosa?" Hermione asked, switching on a fan in the living room and inviting her to sit down. Rosa's lip trembled.

"No." She decided to be honest. "I wasn't allowed one."

Hermione looked up in horror. "'Not allowed?'" she repeated incredulously. "Draco wouldn't allow you to go out to work?"

Rosa shook her head. Hermione looked grim.

"It is worse than I thought then. I mean, Draco is a total arse, but I never thought… that's really controlling!"

"I know." She had to fight back tears. How could she have done this? Rosa hadn't spoken to any of her friends since she left Hogwarts… in fact she didn't actually have any friends, except for Draco. It had been a lonely year stuck in his house; it wasn't like she was going to become best friends with Millicent Bulstrode or Goyle.

"I haven't seen any of my old friends in over a year," Rosa explained, before breaking down in tears. Hermione moved across the leather sofa to comfort her. "I realised today that I want my old life back, I couldn't survive in Draco's house. Not anymore."

"You can get your old life back," Hermione said determinedly. "We're still in contact with everyone, it's almost like we never left school. But before I reintroduce you to everyone, I really think it would be best to fill me in on everything that's happened since you moved in with Draco."

And Rosa did.


End file.
